Try To Hide
by gw-libero
Summary: There's an Atlantis rewatch on the GW whump thread that involves discussion, writing and art. I couldn't come up with something for "Rising" but I wrote a short story about "Hide and Seek".


Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Stargate parts - that would be MGM - I only borrow the characters to play with.

Thank you so much, mrscopterdoc and JoaniexJony for betaing!

**Try to hide**

I've been lying awake for hours now. It's never so totally dark in our tents that we can't see the glowing flames from the fireplaces.  
>And the sounds are different too. I am used to the whispering and snoring in the night, sometimes an animal cries in the woods. Here there are never ending low humming noises and the steady sound of water splashing against the city walls.<p>

There's a rustling in the hallway.

I hear the 'pssst' and a 'swoosh', as a door opens and I hear a child whispering. I know it's Jinto and his pudgy friend Wex. They are talking about their game. I saw them this evening and it was pretty obvious they were cooking something up.  
>Of course they'll play "Fight the Wraith", they always do but they never want me to join them.<br>They never let the girls play "Wraith" with them. Even when they set up a culling, they ask Jendo, Pati and some of the babies to play the victims. And Terko, the ugly gnome with his bristly yellow hair, always gets the role of beautiful Teyla if needed.  
>That's just not fair!<p>

My mother used to tell me I'm pretty and although I have dark hair and mum dressed it in pigtails, I always dreamt about growing into a lovely woman like Teyla. One day I want to be a leader just like her.  
>My mother always said …<br>My mother.  
>I miss her …<br>I want to know where she is.  
>Or … her body …<br>She wasn't with Teyla and no-one I asked had seen her after the Wraith had destroyed our camp.  
>The soldiers from Earth say they will go back and search our settlement for any survivors, but I know like every Athosian knows, that there will be only burned bodies, smoke and an evil stench of death lingering over the battlefield.<p>

I remember the culling that robbed me of my beloved father when I was only eight years old.  
>Then he'd went with Halling and the others to distract the Wraith so that the women with children were able to reach the caves. It worked, kind of, but my father and 43 women and men were killed. I'd never seen Halling cry before.<p>

Since we arrived in this big city of the Ancestors they call Atlantis, I've been living with my aunt. She has been alone for many years. Her husband and her only son Jona died in the same culling that took my father.  
>She's nice and all but she's so fearful. She rarely lets me out of her sight.<br>When Major Sheppard held his story night today, at first she wouldn't allow me to go.  
>It was <em>terrible<em>.  
>I the only child missing the fun!<br>I am already 12.  
>I'm not a baby anymore.<br>At the time we argued, she refused, I cried, she wept, I brought up Jona and finally she agreed but insisted to go with me.  
>It was so embarrassing to have her sitting near me, <em>holding my hand<em>.  
>As if I were afraid of the Major's story … pshaw … but maybe it was because she was afraid.<br>There were younger children there – alone!  
>And the dopey boys always looked our way and smirked.<p>

The story the Major told us was strange. I had trouble understanding his accent and I didn't know half of the words he was using.  
>But he is so funny. He can pull faces that make me want to laugh out loud.<br>The light he used to frighten the children wasn't scary at all.  
>I giggled but my aunt jumped. She's afraid of <em>everything<em>.  
>I like Major Sheppard a lot. I think he is nice and a very smart man. And he seems to like us, the Athosian people.<br>I saw him fighting the Wraith, flying this ship and rescuing all the people. He is a brave man and I know, Teyla likes him.  
>But the night in the candle-lit room with all the children he was totally different.<br>He told jokes even Halling laughed at. I could tell he likes children and he promised to show us how to play ball like the kids on Earth.

I wonder how old he is.  
>If he's not too old, like Halling or Toran, I will marry him when I'm old enough. We could lead Atlantis together.<br>Oh, I would love this. We could fight side by side, kill thousands of Wraith and rescue all the weak and scared people. I will never again have to be afraid of the Wraith.

In the hallway I hear Jinto say: 'You can be the Wraith. I get to be Major Sheppard.'  
>He is always showing off. I hate it.<br>Jinto keeps telling everybody that the Major is his friend, but he's just stupid.  
>Just because he was asked for the address to dial the Ring of the Ancestors.<br>I myself know _thousands_ of addresses!  
>Jinto told his father and everyone who hadn't been there, about the rising of the city – countless times.<br>He even tried to tell me! Dumb boy.  
>I smacked him on the chin and he ran off to his father. What a <em>wimp<em>.  
>I was there too when the city came up from under the water. I was standing behind the Major and Dr. Weir, so close I could feel the soft fabric of their clothes, and I saw the smile on the Major's face, when the first sunbeam reached his eyes.<br>I could tell exactly what he was thinking – he was thinking about going swimming in the glittering ocean.

When he told us his story tonight and was questioned about the hockey mask, he looked right into my eyes. He was smiling at me and looking for help. I smiled back and wanted to hug him so badly because of the stupid boys with their stupid questions. But my aunt would never have let me go to him.  
>Darn.<br>I can't wait to get old enough to do all the things I want!  
>But when I grow up, I will play Major Sheppard all the time in every single play and then, try to hide, Jinto!<p> 


End file.
